The present invention relates generally to processing a call in a unified messaging system, and more particularly to determining a prioritized order of group members in a unified messaging system and processing a call based on a selection from the prioritized order of group members.
Unified messaging is the integration of multiple (typically two or more) types of communication (e.g., email, voicemail, short message service (SMS), fax, etc.) into a single, unified message store (e.g., a unified messaging system) accessible from a variety of user devices. Unified messaging is typically provided by a service provider, which may be the same service provider that provides telephone service. In order for a service provider to provide unified messaging service to an organization of subscribers (also called users, which may be employees of a client organization), the unified messaging system may be configured with organizational data regarding related groups in the client organization's organizational structure. Each user can be associated with multiple devices and/or phone numbers. Additionally, each user can be assigned his/her own unified messaging mailbox.
When a user provides a list of contact numbers or is associated with multiple numbers/devices, a unified messaging system can provide find me follow me (FMFM) procedures which increases the chance of establishing a call successfully with the client. When a calling party calls one of the devices of the user, the unified messaging system can concurrently or sequentially attempt to contact each of the client's associated numbers/devices to locate the client.
Frequently, when a primary group mailbox (i.e., main mailbox) is associated with multiple parties, the unified messaging system presents the calling party with the name and/or numbers of each party associated with the primary group mailbox and each of the secondary mailboxes associated with that primary mailbox. For example, when a caller dials any of the numbers of the devices associated with the primary mailbox, and the dialed number is not connected to the user of that device at that time, the caller may be connected to the unified messaging interactive voice response (IVR) of the primary mailbox. A caller may also dial directly into an access number of the unified messaging system and identify the primary mailbox using one of the available mechanisms (e.g., by presenting the telephone number of any devices associated with that primary mailbox in response to the appropriate interactive voice response prompts).
Once the unified messaging system is informed of the addressed primary mailbox, the unified messaging system presents the caller with various choices of mailboxes (primary or secondary) to leave a message in. For example, the unified messaging system may state “to reach or leave a message for John or John's assistant, press 1; to reach or leave a message for Sally, press 2, to reach or leave a message for Cyrus, press 3; to reach or leave a message for Maya, press 4; to reach or leave a message for Sara, press 5.” If the calling party is attempting to reach Sara, he/she must wait until the end of the message to learn which number to press to reach Sara. As the number of secondary mailboxes associated with a primary mailbox increases, the wait time for a calling party also increases.
Causing the user to wait for presentation of the desired selection can cause much frustration and a loss of time and productivity. Accordingly, improvements in a unified messaging system are desirable.